Kate got to try out her monkey costume. The subdivision had a Halloween parade. All the kids got to dress up in their costumes and we just strolled over to the park. Kate liked the candy goody bag and of course the swing. "Higher Mommy!"

Kate loves any toy that she has that has something to do with farms. The word "farmer" sounds so cute when it comes out of her mouth. This past Sunday we visited a pumpkin patch / animal farm. I specifically looked for a place where there would be animals.

Unfortunately it was very busy and pretty warm, but we had a nice Sunday outing nonetheless. The poor animals didn't look so happy. They must be so stressed out this time of year. Kate loved petting them though, she walked up to the sheep all by herself while I was standing in line for the pony ride.

This is a picture of chicken soup. It was made from scratch. There was a whole chicken (giblets and all) that went in a pot with water for a few hours, then was taken out and cut into pieces, taken off the bone. While that happened I made little meat balls, you can see them floating in the soup.

In The Netherlands you can buy "soepgroente". That can be translated directly as "soup vegetables". It's a mix of veggies that are great for soup, leeks, carrots, cauliflower, celery, parsley, etc. I wish they sold it here, it makes making a tasty vegetable soup super easy. I had to make my own mix. It's a fair amount of work, even though I used the food processor.

The boys had eaten chicken soup at my mom's, when we were visiting the Netherlands in August. This was an attempt to recreate her soup. It was pretty good, even though someone thought he knew better and dumped the entire bag of egg noodles in there. It would have been better with the original quantity.

The boys did not want to know what the veggies were that they actually ate. They didn't want to ruin the experience. I'm glad they liked it, they had a pretty good meal, 2 days in a row. I froze enough for 2 or 3 more meals! I made a meat / poultry free version for myself with just the veggies and vegetable stock. Yum!

Here's Peanut. She's our shadow, mostly mine. She usually follows me through the house, wherever I go. She is not allowed on the furniture, except at night, when Kate nurses before bed. (Yes, she's 2 and we're still nursing. No, she won't nurse all the way through college.) The following around is just typical Beagle behavior. They're pack hounds, they crave company.

It's nice, having the little mutt around. She's not always a good dog. She likes to get into the garbage and figured out the sensors on our garbage cans in no time. That nose, it's her driving force. She makes this crazy noise when she's sniffing the ground on our walks.

I didn't think I'd have a dog like this, who really doesn't care too much about pleasing me. Prim, my old dog, loved to be trained, she was great that way (with her own faults). Peanut will most likely be my one and only Beagle.

That I'm a mom that is. I've been a mother for a little over 2 years. At times it's still very hard to believe.

When I was pregnant we didn't buy anything until we had the big Level II ultrasound. Even then, it was just a few onesies. A car seat and things like that we bought in the final few weeks before her due date. I had a shower, for which I registered at Target only. My thoughts ... what if it still goes wrong. What a way to parent!

On the expecting club board there was a woman who very sadly lost her little boy at 26 weeks, he was stillborn. She knew he had a very small chance of making it, and she and her husband tried so hard to make the best of things, and they kept hoping and most of all they kept pouring all their hearts into their little boy. I learnt so much from that. She was fearless in her love for her little one, despite the fact that was going to lose him.

Here I was, one miscarriage and 14 years of dealing with infertility, and I was totally afraid to love this little baby I was growing in my belly.

The little baby is now a crazy wonderful toddler, and incredibly lovable. I love her with all my heart, but sometimes it still isn't real, and I have to pinch myself. I don't have to give her back to her parents, because that's me!

Isn't she gorgeous?